By Gary Curtis

Powerpuff Girls created by Craig McCracken and all related characters owned by Cartoon Network.

ONE

It was one of those rare Saturday afternoons, a picture-perfect late October day of bright sunshine with just the hint of a breeze. A few puffy white clouds scudded across a brilliant blue backdrop of sky. What was rare, though, wasn't the beautiful weather. Autumn in Townsville was about as nice as you could hope for. It was the fact that, for once, not a single thing had gone wrong to spoil the too-little time that Professor Utonium got to spend with his girls. No monster attacks while enjoying their non-hurried non-school day breakfast; no robberies-in-progress to interrupt their weekly grocery shopping at Malph's. Even their usual sources of trouble, Mojo Jojo, Him, Fuzzy Lumkins and a few select others, were being quiet.

But the absolute, rarest-of-the-rare occurrence this Saturday was the relative quiet in the car. For once, the girls weren't arguing about something. They had spent a fun couple of hours at one of the big farm markets that dotted the landscape in the Farmsville area and did huge business this time of year. Everyone seemed to be out with their families; the children noisily picking out their Halloween pumpkins, going on hay-wagon rides and sampling (and spilling much of it) the fresh cider as their parents tried to supervise them. The harvest season meant an abundance of fruits and vegetables to choose from, and there were many handmade crafts for sale. There were homemade candies, and donuts to go with the cider. There was no shortage of things to eat and things to do, and the girls had done plenty of both. Now, with the car's cargo area holding their pumpkins and baskets of apples, pears and squashes ("Look, Buttercup! They got one named after you!" Bubbles had giggled.), Buttercup and Bubbles were in the back seat happily playing with the hand-painted gourd 'monsters' that the professor had bought for them. Blossom sat in her customary 'command' position in the front passenger seat (it was this excuse that always ended any argument over who sat where).

The professor glanced over at his red-haired daughter. She had her head turned so he couldn't see her eyes, as she looked both down the road ahead and out the side window. She was being very quiet and she seemed to him to be somewhat melancholy.

"Blossom? Are you feeling all right, sweetie?" Maybe she'd had too much cider.

She turned and looked up at him. "I'm fine, Professor. I was just thinking that the fields all look so different with everything picked, and it's kinda sad. Winter's coming."

"I thought you liked winter, Blossom?"

"Yeah, Blossom, you like sledding and stuff." Bubbles said from the back seat.

"And snowball fights!" Buttercup chimed in.

"Well, yeah," Blossom agreed, turning to look at them. She DID like winter activities, but her mind was going in a different direction. Buttercup sensed what it was.

"Oh, who cares about a buncha dead cornstalks?"

Bubbles could sense her sister's feelings, too. "Lookit all the pretty colors, Blossom!" She waved her arm toward the bright multi-colored foliage as they zoomed along the country road. "It's a LONG time 'til winter!"

"How long is it 'til supper?" Buttercup asked. "I'm starvin'!"

"Buttercup!" Blossom frowned. "You just got DONE feeding your face!"

"So? I'm still hungry!"

Uh oh. He could sense an end to the quiet ride. "There's a whole basket of apples back there, Buttercup. Help yourself."

Perking up, Bubbles reached into the rear and grabbed a shiny Red Delicious for herself.

"Get me a yellow one, Bubbles?" Blossom asked.

"Apple, schmapple." the dark-haired girl grumbled. "I want real food."

He looked up at her in the rearview mirror. "If you finish it before we leave the country, you can throw the core out the window."

Blossom was appalled. "Professor!"

"They're 100% biodegradable, Blossom."

After much chomping and giggling, seven cores later (one for the professor) they reached the outskirts of Pokey Oaks.

TWO

The car was unloaded and everything put away. The produce was in the garage, where it would keep better as the days grew steadily cooler. The professor stood in the kitchen with the girls hovering around him. They could see into the dining room, where their pumpkins sat on the table awaiting the knife and paint.

"When can we carve our pumpkins, Professor?" Blossom asked.

"When are we gonna buy our costumes?" the little blonde wanted to know.

"When are we eating?" Buttercup demanded, then gave them a sly grin when they stared at her. "Just kidding!"

The professor looked at his watch. It was just before three. This time of year, dusk approached at five and by five-thirty, it was the perfect darkness to begin trick-or-treating. That was four days away, on Wednesday.

He answered them in order. "We don't want to do them TOO early, Blossom. We'll do them tomorrow afternoon. Have you girls decided what you want to be this year?"

"Yeah!" they replied together, each smiling and thinking about their choice of costume.

"Good. I thought we could go out to eat and hit the store later. Where would you like to go?"

"The Steakhouse Down Under!" Buttercup yelled. The professor's mouth watered; it had been a long while since he'd had a good steak.

"'Sketti Palace!" Bubbles chirped gleefully.

Blossom nudged her sister and whispered, "It's 'PASTA Palace', Bubbles."

"Oh yeah. Well, I don't LIKE pasta! I want 'SKETTI!"

Buttercup rolled her eyes. "It's BUH-sketti, Bubbles. Say it right!"

Blossom decided to just let it go and looked up at the professor. Steak wasn't what she wanted, but if they couldn't compromise it would be pizza again. She loved it but she knew that he was sick of it. "Steak sounds good. Bubbles, you can get spaghetti there."

"OK!"

"Thank you, Blossom." he thought. "Great! How does five-thirty sound? I'll go make reservations. You three go out in the back yard and wait for me. I've got a surprise for you!"

THREE

Blossom and Buttercup floated out but Bubbles purposefully walked, kicking up the leaves. She loved hearing them crunch under her feet. As she looked up and both ways across the neighboring back yards, she saw that the air was full of falling leaves. Their own lawn was plastered with them. There was a huge maple in the middle of the yard and it had about half its leaves yet. They were aflame in reds, yellows and oranges mixed with the little remaining green. Two slender white-barked birches near the rear property line were almost barren, their small yellow leaves covering the ground around them. To her left, in the Smith's yard, was a sturdy oak that had most of its leaves still, and when they fell, many would land in her yard. Many already had. Combined with those from another maple and a sycamore in the opposite neighbor's yard, their lawn was blanketed in color. It was all just so pretty.

Her reverie was broken by Buttercup's annoyed voice.

"Hey, where'd YOU go?"

"Huh?"

"We asked you what you think the surprise is, Bubbles." Blossom said.

"Oh." She shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, he obviously wants to show us something out here or we could've stayed in the house."

Buttercup thought that made sense. "Yeah. But I didn't see anything in the garage. You think whatever it is is in the shed?"

"I bet it is!" Blossom answered, and now Bubbles was growing excited.

"Maybe he got us bikes!" she said brightly. That idea brought wide eyes and huge smiles to her sisters' faces. Just then the back door opened and the professor came out.

"All set, girls!" He smiled and headed right toward the shed, which sat directly behind the garage and held the lawn mower and other yard-maintenance tools. It was plenty big enough to hold three small bicycles. They floated behind him and saw the key in his hand. They eyed one another, their hearts pounding. He unlocked the door and threw it open.

"Feast your eyes on these babies!"

They stared in shock, as standing there were four brand-new, shiny, bright red...rakes.

FOUR

"Aw, PROFESSOR!!!" Their collective groan could be heard across the street.

"Aren't they gorgeous, girls?" He admired the full-sized one and the three short-handled ones that would fit them, totally oblivious to their dismay. "Certainly an improvement over those beat-up ones. Such a simple design, yet brilliant in its simplicity."

"I can't believe you're gonna make us work on a day like this!" Buttercup griped. Bubbles just stared at the ground. She wanted a bike.

"Now, Buttercup. It's just as important to work together as a family as it is to play together."

"That's true." Blossom admitted. "You did get four of them." There were four pairs of work gloves resting on top of a trash can, three tiny ones and one for him.

He knelt down and lifted Bubbles' chin. "The work has to be done, sweetie, and this will give us a chance to spend more time together." That brightened her up a bit.

"But Professor, what's the point?" Buttercup protested, waving her arm around. "Look at all of them still up there! We're just gonna have to do it again! Why not wait until they're all down?"

Blossom argued her point. "Professor, we could have these cleaned up in no time if you let-"

"No, Blossom, you know how I feel about you using your powers to do chores. Besides, getting it done that quickly defeats the purpose of doing this together. And to answer your question, Buttercup, that's the lazy person's way. You only have to do the job once, but your neighbors who keep up with it have to clean up all of your leaves that blow into their yard."

"Oh." Bubbles said, looking down again. "I was gonna say we could just blow 'em into the Smith's yard, but that would be mean."

"Yeah, Bubbles, but it WOULD be kinda fun if we could." Blossom cheered her up with a grin. It was obvious from the look on Buttercup's face that she'd thought of the same thing.

The professor slapped his hands together. "Okay. We each start in a corner and work toward the center. Then when we have our pile, we bag 'em and take 'em to the curb. Let's get started!"

He handed each of them their rake and pair of gloves, then picked up his. As the girls began to float to their positions, his cell phone chirped. He set his things down and pulled the phone from the waist pocket of his white coat.

"Hello? Oh, hello, Senator...yes, I'm nearly finished with it. What?! You needed it TODAY?! I thought it was NEXT week! Oh, I'm terribly sorry!"

He paused while the apparently perturbed caller spoke.

"Well, the research IS done. I just have to put the report together...shouldn't take more than an hour. Is a faxed copy OK? Great, I'll get right to it, and again, my apologies, Senator."

The girls crowded around him as he silenced the phone. He looked quite upset with himself.

"I'm so sorry, girls, I'm going to have to leave you alone for a little while."

"That's OK, Professor," Blossom said, wide-eyed; obviously impressed by the mention of someone as powerful as a senator. "Your work is WAY more important."

He moved toward the house, glancing over his shoulder at them. "I'll try to hurry."

Buttercup wasn't quite as impressed. When he was gone, she grumbled, "Yeah, I bet he forgot. Now we're stuck doin' it ourselves."

Bubbles defended him. "Buttercup, that's mean. He didn't forget on purpose!"

"Yeah, maybe. But I still say we just use our powers and get this over with."

"No." Blossom said firmly. "Besides, working in the fresh air will be good for us. We can each do our sections and help him when he comes back."

She pointed toward the far right corner. "Buttercup, you go over there." She pointed to the near corner, by the shed. "Bubbles, you start there. I'll go over here." She turned to float toward the near corner over by the Smith's.

Buttercup jumped on that immediately. "Hey, why do I have to go where it's the farthest? And there's more leaves, too! You picked the easiest part!"

Blossom was sick of her sister's sniping over trivial things. "Fine. I'll go over there, then."

Buttercup gave her a small smirk behind her back as she watched her go. She knew there weren't any more leaves out there than anywhere else. She just didn't like being bossed all the time. A mission was one thing, but Blossom always took over at home, too. So she pushed back, and had learned that she could push her sister's buttons too. She'd also learned that she liked doing it whenever she could, as long as it didn't happen on a mission.

Bubbles was watching and she knew what was going to happen. Sure enough, Blossom began to attack the leaves with a fury. And instead of raking inward from the corner, she was going across the length of the rear of the yard. She intended to do that entire half all by herself now, just to show Buttercup that she wasn't afraid of doing the 'harder' part. Bubbles floated over to her prickly sister. "Buttercup, why'd you do that?"

Buttercup grinned. "Because I can!"

Bubbles gave her an angry "Hmmph!" and abruptly turned her back.

FIVE

All of them were busily raking. Blossom's anger found itself focusing on doing the job and doing it well. Once she'd done that, it became automatic and she let her mind drift off to something else. She'd raked both rear corners and up both sides, so that her pile of leaves had a curved outline as it grew steadily higher and closer to the big maple tree in the center of the yard. Buttercup could see only her shoulders and head and the flying arms and leaves. Blossom had done almost equal the work of her two sisters. Buttercup was beginning to feel a bit tired and wanted to take a break. She couldn't believe Blossom was showing no signs of slowing down.

She felt bad about what she'd done, seeing how hard her sister was working. The feeling she got whenever she pulled off a stunt was like a high of some kind. But it never lasted and she usually wound up feeling lousy about it later. But that feeling wasn't as strong as the good one and it couldn't stop her from doing something the next time her temper flared and she wanted that good feeling again.

Bubbles wasn't helping to get rid of her guilt. Every time Buttercup stole a glance the blonde's way, Bubbles seemed to be staring directly at her. Then Bubbles would look over at Blossom, and back at her with a dirty look. Every time. How was Bubbles getting any raking done? The last time it happened, Bubbles scowled at her. She looked away. Blossom was leaning on her rake, panting. Buttercup looked back at Bubbles, who had dropped her rake and was standing there with her arms crossed and an even deeper scowl on her face. Buttercup hung her head. Bubbles was giving her an order. She obeyed.

She let her rake fall and floated over to where Blossom stood. Startled, Blossom hurriedly got back to work. Bubbles resumed raking but watched and listened intently.

"Blossom? You look tired. Maybe you should stop and rest."

"Buttercup, if YOU'RE tired and need a break, go ahead, but don't put it on ME."

Once again, the green-eyed 'Puff's temper flared. But she knew she'd better not make things worse by opening her mouth, so she just turned away. Bubbles floated there, glaring, seeming to say, "Don't you dare!" Buttercup sighed and turned back.

"Blossom, can I pretend I'm you for a minute and you're me?"

"What for?" Blossom asked suspiciously.

"Please?"

Her sister stopped working and leaned on the rake expectantly. Her pink eyes narrowed slightly as she wondered what was coming.

"Buttercup," Buttercup began, "when I told you I thought you looked tired and should rest, I wasn't trying to boss you around. I want to be sure you're okay."

Blossom blinked. "Really? Thanks, Buttercup. I'm sorry I got mad at you. I guess I overreacted."

"No, no, no, no, no. YOU'RE Buttercup, I'M Blossom. Buttercup would NEVER say anything like that!"

Blossom scratched her head. "Huh? I guess I don't KNOW what you'd say."

"Yeah you do. You already said it."

"I did?"

"Yep. And I quote, 'If YOU'RE tired and need a break, go ahead, but don't put it on ME.' That's exactly the kinda thing I'd say."

Blossom blinked again. "Hee. Heeheeheehee! I guess we really aren't that different!"

They giggled and hugged each other and when they looked up, Bubbles was only a few feet away and she was smiling again.

"How'd I do, Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"That was pretty good, Buttercup. Now, what would I say?"

Buttercup thought for a moment. Her face took on a fierce look. "If you two don't start gettin' along, I'm gonna go hardcore on you, you DOODOO...HEADED...NINNIES!!"

Hearing the screaming, the professor bolted up the stairs from his lab. When he looked out the window, he saw his girls rolling in the pile of leaves, laughing their heads off.

SIX

"CAN we take a break, Blossom?" Buttercup asked.

"Well, let's vote on it, and I promise I'll go along with the decision. But let me say this first. I think we should get all the raking done and THEN rest. That way, when Professor comes out, all we have to do is pick them up. Sound reasonable?"

Her sisters nodded.

"OK, let's vote."

It went 2-0 in favor of taking a break, with one giggling abstention.

* * * * * * *

"Man, look at all these leaves. And there's still lots more of them on the trees."

"I know, Buttercup. That means we'll be raking again." Blossom replied.

They lay on their backs, looking up at the branches of the trees, the clouds, the rapidly sinking sun. "Girls?" Bubbles rolled onto one arm and looked at her sisters. "Do you ever think about them?"

"THINK about them?" Buttercup snorted. "What's there to think about? They're LEAVES!"

But Blossom said, "Yes, Bubbles, I do. In fact, I was thinking about them today."

"Oh, yeah, that 'sad' stuff in the car."

"No, Buttercup, while I was raking. In the car, I WAS thinking about how sad it is that things have to die every year, but they always come back again. It's part of life. No, I was just thinking about how the leaves and trees were like people...but you brought it up, Bubbles, you go first."

"Hey yeah, that's what I was thinking too, Blossom...and that they're like us!"

"Oh, brother! Not the 'colors' thing again!"

"Quiet, Buttercup! Go ahead, Bubbles."

"Well, yeah...I think about the sun and the sky being the color of my hair and eyes. And in the spring they make everything turn green, just like your eyes, Buttercup."

"Sheesh." her sister thought, but just said "And?"

"And that's when everything is really alive, when it's green. When the sun is out the sky is happy, but when it's not the sky is sad. And when it's sad, it rains and things need that to grow. I don't like being sad, but the rain makes me think that if people aren't sad sometimes, they won't grow either."

"That's beautiful, Bubbles." Blossom said softly. "I never thought about tears being like rain."

"Yeah, Bubbles, not bad. So far you got you covered and my eyes. What about my hair?"

"Well, that would be the dirt."

"Gee, thanks a lot!"

"No! Dirt is good! Plants need it!"

"Relax, Bubbles, I was just kidding. What about Blossom?"

"Well, in the fall, the leaves all turn colors. They get pink like your eyes and orange like your hair and red like your face when you get mad!"

Blossom smiled. "You could have said my bow, but that's OK. You know, Bubbles, you aren't too far away from what I was thinking. While I was raking, I thought about how the trees are kinda like people. Some are strong and some are weak. Some live a long time and some don't. Like those birch trees. They always lose their leaves early and I don't think the trees live that long either. But look at the oak in the Smith's yard. Those trees can live hundreds of years and that tree keeps its leaves 'til after Thanksgiving. That oak tree is you, Buttercup."

Buttercup sat up sharply and stared at her sister. Blossom put her hand on Buttercup's arm.

"All summer long, it takes whatever gets thrown at it, and it has for however long it's been there. That tree will probably still be there after we're gone. You're tough, is what I mean."

"I know what you meant, Blossom. Thanks."

"Am I anything, Blossom?" Bubbles asked.

"You're everything, Bubbles. You're the sun that keeps things warm and helps the leaves make the food for the trees. You're the clouds that protect them when it gets too hot. You're the rain that waters them and the birds that protect them from insects and scatter the seeds so there are more trees."

Buttercup stared at her in awe. "Where does she come up with this stuff?"

Bubbles leaned over to hug her sister. "Blossom, that is so sweet! But what about you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to think of myself as being something special. All I can think about are my responsibilities, so I guess I'd have to say I'm like the leaves themselves."

"Huh?" Buttercup frowned. "I don't get it. What kind of responsibility can a dumb leaf have?"

"Well, when they're brand new, they have to learn how to soak up the things they need that will make them strong when they get older. That's my responsibility to learn my school lessons and the things that the professor teaches us. And when the leaves are older, it's their job to protect the tree and to make food for it. Those are my duties to protect Townsville as a Powerpuff Girl and to share what I've learned with others as I get older. And then when the leaves' days are through, it's time for them to go, even if they don't want to, to make room for the next year's leaves. That's my responsibility to make room, when it's time, for the next superheroes to come along."

"What?" Buttercup cried. "We ain't never giving up being superheroes!"

Blossom gave them a solemn look. "Captain Righteous and Lefty thought the same thing once. We'll have to move on someday too, just like they did."

Bubbles suddenly looked like she was going to cry, but Blossom reassured her. "Don't worry, Bubbles, that won't be for a LONG time yet."

Buttercup jumped to her feet and looked down at them. "You know something? You guys are weird! We're talking about leaves, here!"

She stalked away and picked up her rake. The truth was, she loved hearing every word of that. They were thoughts she'd never had, that she wouldn't have been able to put into words if they'd occurred to her. She was glad her sisters had shared those few moments of insight with her, yet she felt somehow inadequate that she couldn't follow suit. Her thoughts about the leaves were a gut-level thing, and she wanted to share that, too. Philosophy just wasn't her bag of leaves.

SEVEN

Having realized there was nothing wrong, Professor Utonium had watched them briefly as they lay laughing, then hurried back down to his lab to finish up. The report was just a paragraph away from being completed, so he typed that, printed everything out, quickly reviewed it and then faxed the seven-page report of preliminary findings to the senator's local office. He was sure the senator would be pleased with that report. If he was, a more detailed study might be requested and that meant a nice government grant to go with it.

Back upstairs, he stood at the kitchen window looking out at his girls as they lay talking in the big leaf pile. He was surprised at how much they'd gotten done. He would go out to help as soon as their break was finished, but he was in no hurry to interrupt that conversation.

He found himself having his own thoughts about the time of year. He'd never enjoyed raking leaves, but there was always the big payoff at the end that made the effort worth it. You got to burn them. Those were the days when no one worried about smog or pollution or global warming, which he believed was a load of rubbish. A volcano, and there were dozens of active ones in the world at any given time, spit out more pollutants in a single day than a dozen factories could in a year. Accurate temperature records had only been kept since the late 1800s, so who knew what the average temperature was a thousand, a million years ago and could prove that any small current fluctuation was the fault of modern technology, or indeed harmful at all? Rubbish.

But before all that, when he was a boy, everyone raked their leaves to the front curb and carefully watched the small fires as they smoldered. There was nothing to beat the smell of burning leaves on a golden October weekend afternoon. Before that took place, though, kids ran and jumped into the leaf piles, played football in them or lay in wait buried beneath a stack of them, to jump up and scare anyone who walked past. Then, at the end of the long day, when you came out of the chill air into the house and felt its warmth and smelled whatever wonderful thing that was being made for supper, that odor from the leaves clung to your clothes and hair and stayed with you like an old friend until bath time. It was too bad things had changed and the girls would never know those simpler times.

His trip down memory lane was interrupted when he saw Buttercup jump up and stride away from the pile. It looked like she was ready to get back to work, so he figured he better go out and help them. It was a little after four, so they had just about enough time to finish up before they had to change and leave for the restaurant. He was about to let the curtain loose when he saw Buttercup bend and scoop up a huge bunch of leaves between her left hand and the fanned-out tines of the rake. He didn't see any bags. As she began to stand, he saw her curled lip and caught the gleam in her eye. He dashed away from the window, hoping he'd be in time.

EIGHT

"Let's get back to work, Bubbles." Blossom said as they continued to lounge in the pile. She really didn't feel like it anymore, having gotten relaxed after pushing herself earlier. But Buttercup was up, so it was time for them to get busy.

"Nah, take it easy for a few more minutes." Buttercup called over. "Keep on playing Socrates. I want you to get it out of your systems before we get to the steakhouse." She floated closer to them.

"Hey, Buttercup, you never told us what you think." Bubbles said to the sky.

"What I think about leaves? Bubbles, leaves mean only one thing to me. THIS!"

She zipped the remaining three feet and dropped the leaves on their heads. They jumped up, yelling.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Blossom shouted, advancing on her sister. She caught Buttercup by the neckline of her dress and spun her around, then backed her up.

"Hey, take it easy, Blossom!" she grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean nothin'!"

"Yeah? Well I'm gonna mean this!"

When she threw her fist, Blossom knew that Buttercup would lunge back from it. And that's when Bubbles rolled up behind Buttercup into her legs, and Blossom just let go of her. She plopped onto her back into the pile. She got up grinning evilly, while her laughing sisters clutched each other. "Two on one, huh? We'll see about that!"

The fight was on.

* * * * * * *

Professor Utonium had learned that opportunities like this didn't come along often and he'd prepared for them. He had three video cameras, always loaded with a fresh tape and batteries. One he kept in his bedroom, one in the lab and the third in the kitchen closet. He'd begun rolling just before Buttercup started things off, and now he was happily catching all of it. He'd even opened the window so he could pick up their gleeful shouts on audio. They didn't get to experience pure joy like this all that often, and it was rarer still to have it on tape. He knew he was a lucky man that day.

First, they chased each other around, throwing handfuls of leaves at each other and trying to stuff them down inside the collars of each others' dresses. Next, they threw themselves and each other into the piles. Then, Buttercup wanted a bigger thrill. She flew into the maple tree and stood on a branch.

"Watch this! Cannonball!!!"

"No, Buttercup!" Blossom screamed. This wasn't a pool. She was going to get hurt; the leaves weren't enough to break her fall. Laying out flat was the way to go. Buttercup disappeared into the pile. She didn't come out.

"Buttercup!" her sisters yelled. "Are you OK?" They waded into the pile, feeling about on their hands and knees. She used the noise they were making for cover as she slithered along the ground and out. She got to her feet behind them. Blossom jumped three feet straight up when she barked, "Lose something, girls?"

After that, they took turns dive-bombing the pile and each other from the tree, until the leaves were too spread out to cushion them. Then they ran across the yard, sliding into the leaves feet and head first. This went on for more than a half-hour, until suddenly Blossom noticed that the sun had slipped behind the houses on the street and the sky was dimming.

"Oh no!" she cried, looking around at the mess they'd made. There were some patches of clean lawn, but they'd pretty much undone all of their work. Picking pieces of leaf out of her hair, she moaned, "We'll never get it done in time."

"Professor's gonna be mad." Bubbles said worriedly.

He smiled. He rested the camera on the windowsill, aimed out at them, then walked to the door and strode briskly out. "Girls! What's going on here?"

They looked down at the ground. "Blossom, you were in charge. How could you let this happen?"

"I'm sorry, Professor. I was in charge, so I'll clean up the mess."

"Oh, I don't mean that! You guys were having a blast! Why didn't you come get me?"

"Huh?" they all said. He did that to them all the time, made them think he was angry for a second before letting them know he wasn't. "You saw us?" He nodded.

"Why didn't you come out, then?" Buttercup asked.

"Because I was having more fun watching you and getting it all on tape."

"All right!" she yelled.

"That'll make raking all over again worth it!" Blossom smiled.

"Yes, Blossom, and we'll do that tomorrow, BEFORE we get to your pumpkins. Now, put the rakes away and let's get cleaned up."

NINE

Early the next morning, one of those quick-hitting storms that the weather forecasters never predicted blew through the area. The temperature dropped dramatically and heavy wind-driven rain pounded against the girls' round bedroom windows. But they had slept right through it, being worn out from the busy day before. By daybreak, though, the storm front had passed through and the air was calm. Sunday would be as bright and sunny as Saturday had been, but the temperature would struggle to get out of the low 40s.

At 6:30, when Buttercup woke (which was very early for any of them and her especially), it was only 34 degrees outside. It caught her by surprise when she opened the front door to get the professor's paper, and it woke her fully. She felt invigorated by the cold air.

She knew they would have to finish cleaning up the yard before they carved their pumpkins. And she hadn't forgotten how hard Blossom had worked the day before. So she decided to get a head start on it and let everyone else sleep. She ate a fast bowl of cereal, flew upstairs and quietly got ready, then donned her green zippered jacket and slipped out the back door. She stopped dead in her tracks and sat down heavily on the step.

It was shocking. The heavy rains had soaked everything. The added weight plus the driving winds had proved too much for many of the remaining leaves. The lawn looked like it had never been touched. The maple had lost maybe ninety percent of its foliage now. Even the sturdy oak in the Smith's yard, that her sister had used to compliment her, had given up a large quantity of its leaves. Had this happened a morning earlier, she'd be thinking how much less work they would have to do the next time, but now, after hearing those thoughts that had never occurred to her...

"Thanks, Blossom." she muttered. Now she understood. Seeing how even that strong oak tree couldn't hold up against time and nature hit home. She really WAS going to not stay a kid forever. The idea of being old and forgotten like Captain Righteous was what really bothered her. After all, she'd always known that leaves and plants, insects, and even some animals died in the fall. But now she was able to make the connection between the two, even though if you were to ask her what symbolism was, you would get a shrug.

She sighed and went to get her rake and gloves. She floated over to the corner that she had refused to take yesterday and got to work. The rain had drenched them and packed them down, and they stuck together and lifted off the grass in soggy clumps. It would be a tougher job for most people but not for her. She could cover the same area in half the time as when they were dry. She absentmindedly glanced up at the two forlorn birches and saw something odd. They were completely bare now except that the one nearest her had two leaves on the same branch, about halfway up. She wondered briefly what kept them there when all the others had gone, then raked some more.

While she worked her mind drifted back to the two old retired superheroes. She didn't want her sisters and herself to get like that, but she knew that someday they would. There was no stopping it. She thought about what they had looked like in that old newsreel in the mayor's office. Young and full of what she and her sisters had, and ready to take on anyone who threatened their world.

"1942. That was almost 60 years ago. And they were already grown-ups. I'm still a kid. Heck, I've got TONS of leaf-jumping ahead o' me yet. I ain't NEVER getting old, or at least, not for like 80 years or somethin'. And that's just like never."

She went about her task with newfound energy and a smile on her face. And when her sisters came out around eight o'clock and saw how much she'd gotten done, she was still smiling.

"Hi, girls! Just figured I'd get a head start. Sooner we get done the sooner we can do our pumpkins." She glanced up and saw the two leaves still hanging on.

"Yeah." Blossom said, looking around. "Good thing, too. Where'd all these extra leaves come from?"

"It rained. That's okay, they're easier to rake when they're wet."

"Gee, Buttercup, you're in a good mood this morning." Bubbles commented. "You feel OK?"

"Yeah, Bubbles," she grinned broadly. "I feel just great!"

TEN

Her sisters noticed her looking up at the birch trees every so often, but didn't think too much of it. They didn't know WHAT she was looking at; it could have been the sun, a stray cloud, anything.

"You know, guys," Blossom called from her section. They were not that far from each other now. The pile in the center around the maple tree was huge, and soon the three of them could attack the one remaining section of yard together. "I can't believe it's almost the end of October."

"It might be for them, Blossom, but it ain't for us." Buttercup answered. When they turned their heads toward her, she was staring up at the tree again.

"Buttercup, did you jump out of the tree and land on your head before we came out?" Blossom frowned. "What do you mean it's not October for us? And what are you looking at?"

"And who's them?" Bubbles asked.

Buttercup pointed to the two leaves. "It's October for them, but for us it's hardly even spring yet."

Bubbles tilted her head. "The trees?"

"No, those two leaves up there on that one. I call 'em Cap'n Righteous and Lefty. They don't have much time left but they ain't giving up. They're still doin' their duty, just like you talked about, Blossom."

Blossom dropped her rake. "Wow, Buttercup. You understood what I was talking about even better than I do."

"Yeah, but you spend too much time thinkin' about that stuff. Do you guys understand me?"

Bubbles looked at the huge pile and grinned. "Sure do. But these are too wet."

Blossom smiled too. "Well, there'll be more leaves for us to play in. But you're right, Buttercup. It's important for us to understand getting old but we can't forget about being young."

They heard the back door bang shut and the professor was walking out toward them.

"Wow, girls, you must really want to get at those pumpkins!"

They blinked at each other. "Huddle!" Blossom yelled.

Watching them grouped together, he wondered, "What are those three up to now?"

They broke formation and Blossom said to him, "Professor, did you have anything else for us to do today?"

"Why, no, Blossom. After we get done here, and by the looks of things we'll be done before ten, we've got all day to do whatever you want."

"We wanna do the pumpkins later." Bubbles said. "We'd like to do somethin' else first."

* * * * * * *

Shortly after three P.M., the two former protectors of Townsville, friends once more, slowly walked back to their respective apartments at the Pokey Folks Senior Center after the regular Sunday afternoon Bingo session. They found, tied with string to each of their doorknobs, a medium-sized pumpkin, all decorated with a smiling painted-on face, obviously done by small children. Taped to each was a card and inside were the words, "Happy Halloween from the Punkinheads!"

The End

Story written October 2001

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